The National Institute for the Environment (NIE) was a proposed federal agency conceived in 1989 by a group of scientists, environmentalists, and policy analysts who were concerned that the nation's decision makers did not have adequate scientific information to make suitable environmental policies. They were also concerned that the existing federal environmental research and development activities were spread over many uncoordinated agencies, each with different missions and interests therefore preventing an integrated effort to resolve environmental problems. Led by Dr. Stephen Hubbell of Princeton University and Dr. Henry Howe of the University of Illinois, Chicago, the group developed a proposal to establish the NIE. This initiative to create the NIE was promoted by the National Council on Science and the Environment (NCSE), formerly called the Committee for the National Institute for the Environment (CNIE).

Formed in the late 1980s, the NCSE...